RIYADH: Saudi Customs Department held an exhibition in schools in the Saudi capital on Sunday regarding how to detect drugs at the premises.
“The exhibition aimed to make young people aware of all types of contraband, including counterfeit and adulterated goods,” a Customs spokesperson said.
The students were briefed on the various means and methods used by traffickers in attempting to smuggle contraband into the Kingdom. They also watched videos on how to detect the prominent types of contraband that include drugs, alcohol, and contraband.
The students watched the demonstration by Saudi Customs staff on how dogs sniff out prohibited drugs or contraband.
The demonstration came hot on the heels of a report that drug gangs “have been targeting Saudi Arabia, not for trade or profit, but to destroy its youth,” said the spokesperson. “This is evident from the fact that the large quantities of seized drugs that have been smuggled into the Kingdom recently have not been recorded in any other Arab state,” Abdelelah Mohammed Al-Sharif, secretary general of the National Committee for Combating Drugs (NCCD), said of the issue.
Al-Sharif revealed this on the sidelines of a training course on drug prevention at the Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, adding that most victims of drug addiction are generally students aged 19 to 21. He also noted that, “The Kingdom is making important headway in its drive to combat drug abuse.”
The Customs’ drive among the schoolchildren comes at a time when 30 percent of global amphetamine seizures occur in the Kingdom. Indeed, the United Nations ranks Saudi Arabia as the biggest consumer of illegal stimulants in the region.
